Three business groups to bid for building reservoir

Three multinational business groups have been selected to tender for the building of a proposed new 150-billion-litre reservoir in the Thames Valley.

Thames Water said the groups would bid to design, build, test and commission the White Horse Reservoir, near Abingdon in Oxfordshire.

It is expected the facility, with an estimated cost of up to £7.5bn, would take about a decade to build and two winters to fill, with water available for use from 2040.

Campaigners against the reservoir previously said their petition had gathered thousands of signatures, which were "representative of people's views".

The groups selected are:

• WFH JV: Comprising Webuild S.p.A., Hyundai Engineering and Construction Limited and FCC Construccion
• BMV+: Made up of Bouygues Travaux Publics, J. Murphy & Sons Limited and VolkerFitzpatrick
• BBV: Balfour Beatty Civil Engineering Limited and VINCI Construction Grands Projets S.A.S.

The three consortia include firms based in countries including Italy, Spain, South Korea and England.

Thames Water said the contract would create "more than 1,000 jobs during construction", with a range of roles including archaeologists, ecologists and landscape architects.

It also said the proposed reservoir would secure the water supply for 15 million people in the south east of England.